


follow

by Viliandre



Category: K (Anime)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, I have no idea if you'll find this sad or not, I'm Sorry, POV Second Person, Tatara-centric, character death is really kinda glossed over, this is a weird thing I dunno how to tag this, uh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-12
Updated: 2014-10-12
Packaged: 2018-02-20 21:04:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2443112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viliandre/pseuds/Viliandre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His friend looks at you and asks why you want to stay near him when he's clearly no good.</p>
<p>You just smile and say, "King'll become someone great."</p>
<p>His friend doesn't seem to understand, but that's okay. You're sure you'll both be there when it happens.</p>
<p>--</p>
<p>I was trying to do homework and then this happened.</p>
            </blockquote>





	follow

**Author's Note:**

> so I originally had this in a rougher form on my tumblr and it's still there but it wasn't tagged in anything--
> 
> first fic on ao3, and wow tags are ????
> 
> this is also my first time writing a fic in this style hahahaaaa
> 
> I don't know what happened.

There isn’t anything special about the day you see him for the first time except…it’s the day you first see him. It feels like summer—you’re not sure what season it really is. He feels warm and will always— _always_ —become someone great.

“King!” the word is out in the air before you really think it.

He scowls at you, tells you to get lost, and leaves.

You follow. He’s interesting, somehow full of color; he is already someone you never want to let go of.

\--

A couple months later, after you’re beaten up for speaking up when some people were badmouthing King, he actually tells you more than to stay away from him. He even brings a friend with him to your hospital room. The friend might be how he even knows you are in the hospital.

His friend is interesting too, but he isn’t at King’s level. Not yet.

“Who did this to you?” King asks, but you ask him to scratch your foot, delaying your answer. He does it as you smile, but he hits your head and leaves before you can tell him.

His friend looks at you and asks why you want to stay near him when he’s clearly no good.

You just smile and say, “King’ll become someone great.”

His friend doesn’t seem to understand, but that’s okay. You’re sure you’ll both be there when it happens.

\--

You begin to hang out with them when you are released from the hospital. King doesn’t seem to have warmed up to you, but he stops telling you to go away so it’s okay. It’ll work out somehow.

Kusanagi-san definitely likes you though. He even offers to teach you since you can’t afford to go to high school! (You can’t afford more than that, but you don’t tell them.) King’s teacher also offers to help.

You smile and thank them, thinking you want to stay there forever.

With them forever.

\--

It is later that King becomes a King, the Red King, and you both take his hands. Neither of you hesitate; the fire courses through your body. It burns you for a moment—your veins become that fire—and is gone.

The fire remains, quiet, inside you.

King has definitely become someone great.

You start to wonder if this happened because of you.

In the months that follow, when King and Kusanagi-san both try and fail to completely contain that fire, you hope not.

You don’t have to try to contain your fire, but you see the toll it takes on your friends.

You start staying with King near constantly because that’s better than letting him burn all that’s around him. The bar becomes his kingdom, no, _your_ kingdom; it belongs to all three of you and would doubtless come falling down if any one of you ever left.

But then, if King left, you’re sure both of you would follow.

\--

When the little girl who can only see red Looks at you (through you) and tells you that you won’t live long if you stay around King, you stop yourself from your first thought. You lock it swiftly behind doors and smile. She doesn’t need to read that. You tell her not to tell the others.

She doesn’t need to know that you wouldn’t really be living at all if you left (you’re not sure she didn’t see it anyway). King and the others are too important to ever let go of willingly. Even unwillingly, you’d try to come back if you could.

Instead, you tell King and Kusanagi-san that you think she’s a Strain.

That’s how you get another member for this odd family that’s been building around King since you met him. You don’t want to think about what roles are in this family, but some of them are clear.

Anna is the princess, whatever that entails.

\--

You can’t help but think about what she said at that time when you go to the beach with everyone, years later. A ghost is only there if someone wants to see it.

You aren’t sure if you want them to see you as a ghost after you die. You know that’s what she meant.

You aren’t sure.

But…

It’ll work out somehow, right?

You aren’t sure you can say it this time, just like you didn’t want to say it after King and Kusanagi-san’s fight that one time, before King became the Red King and your lives got more complicated.

Before HOMRA was more than Kusanagi-san’s bar.

But Kusanagi-san worries if you don’t smile—so you smile and tell yourself it anyway. The words feel almost wrong in your head. “It’s fine, it’s fine! It’ll work out somehow.” Right…?

You still can’t leave them. You don’t want to, and you’re sure now that they’d try coming after you if they could.

That hurts more than it should.

\--

When you’re lying on that rooftop, you can’t help but wonder if King’ll be angry with you.

That’s a silly thought. King is your friend. It’d make sense for him to be angry that you’re dying, shot for not having any sense of self-preservation.

You still call Kusanagi-san instead.

It takes him a little while to find you, and Yata is with him.

You tell them what the boy who shot you—killed you—said. You try telling them that it’s alright; that it’s okay; that it’ll work out, but you don’t have enough air (enough time). You start, but you end with a simple “sorry”, instead of somehow.

\--

You don’t really want to watch after, but how are you supposed to leave? These are the people you care about—the people you didn’t want to let go of.

The people you love.

It makes sense that you would stay. But apparently the living can’t even see ghosts when they want to see them desperately.

You wish you could’ve told Anna happy birthday.

You wish King didn’t do what he did, but you aren’t there to stop him anymore. (You always knew, all three of you, that something like this would happen one day.)

You wish this didn’t mimic your silly game of chicken so much.

You wish it was in Homra’s nature to actually listen to what your song had meant.

 

Wishes coming true happens almost as frequently as seeing ghosts.

You aren’t sure you want Kusanagi-san to be able to see the two of you.


End file.
